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Born to speed: A.J. Ellis' third child born in a car

Born to speed: A.J. Ellis' third child born in a car

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis' third child, born Oct. 12, was delivered by wife Cindy in the front seat of a car as Ellis was driving to a Milwaukee hospital.

"It was a surreal day," Ellis said.

Ellis was playing baseball when his first two children were born, watching one birth via streaming video on a computer, both times Cindy having lengthy labor.

Between the time Cindy's water broke and when they left for the 30-minute drive to the hospital, her contractions had increased to once every 45 to 60 seconds.

With 18 miles still to go and Cindy on her hands and knees in the front seat, Audrey Elizabeth was born at 75 mph, two weeks premature. A few minutes later Cindy informed A.J. it was a girl.

"I can tell my other two kids exactly where they were born," said Ellis. "With Audrey, the best I can say is that it was between mile marker 42 and 43ish, not really sure. Or, place of birth -- a Toyota Camry."

He said the best part was when his new daughter looked over at daddy behind the wheel.

"Her eyes were wide open looking at me," said Ellis. "On a panic scale of 1 to 10, I had been about a 15. That brought me down to about a nine. It was really cool seeing her eyes open. Our other two kids were born with umbilical cords around their neck. That was my biggest fear. That we'd have a complication and we're in a car and not a hospital."

Ellis said mother, daughter and father (recovering from knee surgery) are all doing fine.

The story of the unusual birth was first reported by ESPN.com's Molly Knight.

Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.